Race Calendar 2018

Many thanks to Laura Flynn, Karen Devenney, Brian Flannelly, Jeff Fitzsimons, Leo Mahon, Cormac Mac Donnell & the rest of the committes's both in Leinster & Munster for their hard work over the past few weeks working on this. Few more to be added over the coming days but most are up now. Time to get training!

The race details posted for 2018 are all provisional (dates, routes, pubs, course lengths, etc) and are all subject to change sometimes at short notice...

What doesn't change is that IMRA will need Race Directors for each of these very lovely races. We had lots of new people sign up as novice Race Directors during 2017 and they were rewarded with a very handsome IMRA Race Directors top (The must have piece of IMRA merchandise .. nearly as prestigious a badge of honour as a Club 100 top)

So as ever Pol and Laura and Karen and Jeff and Brian and Leo and Cormac and all the other trojan committee workers will very soon be coming looking for next years Race Directors

Ask not what IMRA can do for you but what you can do for IMRA as JFK used to say when he was hillrunning...

Thanks for clearing that up folks, in my defence the rhe 2018 link I looked at stated it was sold out after 6 weeks, this paragraph is now replaced with 2018 membership details. It was not last years link I was looking at, 2018 top of link.
Nice fast response Gavan, looking forward to seeing what other speed you have

Well done to the committee on the 2018 calendar - lots of mountain running to be excited about. Great to see some of the returning and retained races on there and some interesting new routes too. Alot of work clearly went into it.
Obviously with a calendar this jam packed there are going to be clashes but the 2 that caught my eye that I would like to very gently maybe get looked at again are Stone Cross to Lug and a Nav Challenge on the same weekend (probably attract a similar crowd). Also Circuit of Avonbeg and Galtymore being the same weeeknd (last races in Leinster champs and Irish champs and Mourne Seven Sevens has been the same weekend the last few years). (Also Mt Leinster clashes with the Rogaine but there's always loads of races on midsummer.)

And now for a not-very-well-thought-through-suggestion - Stone Cross is a great event but numbers tend to be low. Could Leg 1 be a Leinster Champs race? It would mean everyone in the solo would get a result in the Leinster Champs (as there Leg 1 split could be their result for the LC race) and the people who want to do the relay could join forces with people who want to run Leg 1 in order to get a LC result. Probably a lot of pitfalls to this idea that I haven't considered (like the awkwardness of having a point-to-point race) but just doing some outside the box thinking.
Thanks again and see you in the hills in 2018 :D

Good suggestion Mike - but perhaps Leg 3 would be better for the Leinster Championship race, for a variety of reasons?
The finish for everyone would be in Fentons, for pints, BBQ perhaps, and prizegiving. Leg 1 is the shortest and has a lot of road running, also navigation has been tricky on it several times in early morning mist. There could be a start at 1 PM at the Wicklow Gap for those not in a team or doing the solo.

The following IMRA Races have qualifying points from ITRA next year (2018). These points can be used to apply for races such as UTMB, Lavaredo and other races that have a qualifying points requirement.

It is great to see the creation of the new Irish Ultra Championships. I am wondering though why the SLÍ GAELTACHT MHÚSCRAÍ at 72km and 4 ITRA points is not included in the championships. Any body know why it is not included?

Just starting looking at the calendar for next and I'd like to second Mike's request for resolving the clashes between the Stone Cross to Lug and the Nav Challenge which are on the same weekend and especially the Circuit of Avonbeg and Galtymore races which are also on the same weekend. This is particularly problematic as Avonbeg is a LC race and Galtymore is an IC race.

Not complaining or anything, but pity Brandon and Donard are on the same weekend. Would have thought some doing the Irish Championships would have relished the thought of tackling an iconic mountain that's been off the calendar for some time.

Thanks for your comments on this which I’m only getting to look at now due to work pressures etc, so apologies for that. We will take your comments on board and see if any changes can be made. However it is getting more and more difficult to expand the calendar and, at the same time, avoid clashes or disappointments.
As races Coordinator I am primarily responsible for the calendar but this year I had a huge amount of help from other members mentioned by Pól below In putting the calendar together. I say this only so people are aware that we don’t just copy and paste but rather that a good deal of thought and effort is put into trying to finalise the calendar. The comments of members are welcome and important and if any members have any other suggestions or comments I would welcome them in the next few days before we carry out a final review.

We’ve changed Mount Brandon to July 15th.
Re the Nav Challenge dates, this series generally has its own race director, Gavan Doherty in most recent years. The race director can came to us with dates if they wish and as long as they’re workable vis a vis the rest of the calendar and permits etc we can probably make the changes. If you want to take on the role Paul, or anyone else, I’m happy to talk to or meet with you.
Re your suggestion Mike, this is something we can look at fir next year, or if you’re very keen and want to meet with me to discuss I’m happy to do so. I’m not familiar with the race so would need your input.